When He Is Come - Media Sabda Org

II. Quenching the Holy Spirit
"Quench not the Spirit" (I Thess. 5:19).
This Scripture is addressed to Christians. The word "quench" means to put out a fire by water, or
by smothering it. Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. He is represented as a fire because of His
illuminating, penetrating, refining, enlightening, and enlivening character and ministry. The baptism
of Christ is mentioned as being with the Holy Spirit and fire. The word "quench," as used each time
in the New Testament, expresses the thought of putting out a fire. We read, "Smoking flax shall he
not quench," "Where the fire is not quenched," "Quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," and
"Quenched the violence of fire." The Holy Spirit may be quenched along different lines. One way
is by failing to add fuel to the fire. The way to add spiritual fuel to the fire which bums on the altar
of our hearts is by reading the Word of God, meditation, prayer, taking time to be holy, and by
Christian activities. He may be quenched by suppression, that is, by turning the damper on His
operations and failing to open the spiritual draft, or by failing to stir up the heavenly fire. The Spirit
may also be quenched by failing to recognize His operations in others, or by despising others who
are under the influence of the Spirit.
III. Resisting the Holy Spirit
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your
fathers did, so do ye" (Acts 7:51).
Resisting the Holy Spirit means to resent His doings, to oppose and hate righteousness, and set
self in array against Him. While Christ lived and labored among men, He was resisted, rejected,
despised, hated, and not accepted. The Holy Spirit has come into the world, and He too, empowers,
blesses, and helps all people who accept Him. As people rejected Christ while He was on earth, in
the same manner many reject the Spirit while He is in the world, and those through whom He works.
This is resisting Him.
IV. Undervaluing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
"Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy
Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift
of God may be purchased with money" (Acts 8:19, 20).
The spiritual and heavenly gifts should be valued more highly and desired more than material and
earthly possessions. When people value the material, present, physical, and the natural things more
than they do the spiritual and heavenly things, the Spirit is greatly grieved. The Spirit was greatly
grieved with Esau because he sold his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage. The Spirit could not
forget the act of Esau, who did not value highly the birthright, the Abrahamic blessings, and the
promises which God had made to Abraham. Two thousand years later He made mention of this fact
and called him profane. This profanity consisted of placing a higher value on the present things than
on the eternal things, on the natural things than on